Dana to Ras Al-Feid

Fauna:
Hume's Tawny Owl, Striated Scops Owl, Little Owl, Grey wolf, Savi's Pigmy Shrew, Pygmy white-toothed shrew, Ethiopian Hedgehog, Desert Hedgehog, The Northeast African Long Ear Bat, European Free-tailed Bat, Hemprich's Long-eared Bat, Botta's Serotine Bat, Big Brown Bats, Forest Bats, Natterer's Bat, Arabian Horseshoe Bat, Geoffroy's Horseshoe Bat, Bodenheimer's Pipistrelle, Egyptian Fruit Bat, Arabian Babbler, Graceful Warbler,Graceful prinia, Rock Sparrow, Great Tit, Mourning Wheatear, White-crowned Black Wheatear, Palestine Sunbird, Crested Lark, House Bunting, Cetti's Warbler, Sinai Rosefinch, Trumpeter Finch, Long-billed Pipit.

Flora:
Trisetaria linearis, Trigonella maritima, Torilis nodose, Tetragonolobus requienii, Solanum esculentum, Silene tridentate, Silene swertiifolia, Ononis sicula, Notoceras canariense, Melica minuta.
From the village a good track goes down into the long valley of Wadi Dana amidst splendid sandstone scenery. Follow it pleasantly down the valley eventually arriving at the award winning Feynan Eco Lodge which is in an area of Roman copper mines. If you are not spending the night there, continue down as the valley opens out, reaching Bedouin camps where camping facilities are available. Roman ruins and copper smelting sites not far away. Good sunset spot.From the Wadi Malaga campsite, head south on 4×4 tracks to cross Wadi Malaga, then turn more due south on footpaths to pass on the eastern side of smaller hills Jabal al-Hamra, Jabal Mahzan and Jabal Barwas. With Wadi Araba to the West and the rising mountains to the East, gradually ascend the slope to also cross Wadi Barwas, Wadi abu Hamdtha and Wadi al-Jilf to reach a point near the shallow wadi to meet an old graded donkey and camel trail starting more steeply up the hillside to the west at 7.5 km.

Climb up on this beautifuly-uilt trail on switchbacks through the jagged rocky mountain outcroppings, and take a break to see the expansive view of Wadi Araba’s wash to the west below. Continue along the same path up a wide slot following the old bedouin route reinforced with bridges using Juniper branches and well graded switchbacks. The slot widens to the top where you reach the saddle called Ras Naqb Shdeid, offering breathtaking views in both directions. (The is the last phone signal before Jabal Safaha the following day.) Take a moment to realize you are walking the old main route between Bir al-Saba and Shobak.

Continue downhill finding the same old path to the right side of the saddle, cutting the steep grade down at the top and flattening up as it winds to the left to follow a small gully and meet perenially spring-fed Wadi Feid below. Turn right along Wadi Feid to access a pool above a large dry waterfall, great for cooling down and washing up. The stream/spring in Wadi Feid is the last reliable water source before Little Petra (+24km).

Retrace your steps back and follow Wadi Feid upstream through thick vegetation, watching carefully where a good footpath is available on the left side of the wadi. Pass the remains of an old Nabatean water channel, and be prepared in case you need to wade through a shallow section of the water near the canals. Pass the spring to your right, and continue up the wadi around the bend. The geology shifts to a dark purple sandstone just before a split in the wadi, at a point where an impressive Juniper tree sits above the junction with roots wrapping around the rock to the wadi floor. The stage ends here, with campsite options off and on route listed below.

To access the pickup-accessible campsites (Tor al-Ashour/lower/+1km and Gerasha Salmane/upper/+2km), turn left up a footpath on the hillside (not in the wadi). If continuing on to the next stage, turn right up out of the wadi and make your way up the ridgeline to a gap in large boulders visible on the mountain above past a large cave. If continuing back to the next stage from the campsites, a footpath can cut the corner down and up to the same place (indicated on map).